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How I wish there were more unforgettable evenings like this one. Last night we went to see “Gianni Schicchi” and “Pagliacci” at the L.A. Opera. That was the very best production of those two Operas I had ever seen. Mr. Placido Domingo has transformed the entire L.A. Opera. His approach is new and the new productions are incredible.

Last night Domingo sang in Puccini’s Opera “Gianni Schicchi” and he was amazing. Of course my favorite aria is “Oh, Mio Babbino Caro” and it was wonderfully delivered by the young soprano, Andriana Chuchman. The second opera “Pagliacci” by Leoncavallo is my most beloved opera.

Maestro Domingo conducted the orchestra with the sensibility of an artist who knows what opera singers need to hear in the music and he conducted the orchestra in such a way that they gave their best. He was brilliant!

An amazing young tenor Yusif Eyavazov played Canio and his aria “Ridi Pagliaccio” was phenomenal!! Nedda – Ana Maria Martinez was unforgettable too. Her voice is still with me.

I cried listening to the music and the incredible interpretation of so much talent gathered by Domingo on the stage. Both productions – one by Woody Allen and one by Zeffirelli were just magnificent.

And the cherry on the pie was meeting the great maestro himself after the show. What a night!

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Sidebeat Music catches up with Irina Maleeva, a veteran of film, television, musical and cabaret theater, at a rehearsal at the Hudson Main Stage Thestre in Hollywood California, where she presented her one-woman musical theater show, “Illusions.”

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As skeptical as I was of seeing a show about Judy Garland without her in it, I was happily surprised after I’d seen this show. The performance of Tracie Bennett was superb. She not only sang the songs with Judy’s voice, she interpreted them in Judy’s way, which was the beauty of it all. All Tracie’s mannerisms and her physique really reminded me of Judy’s.

I’ve never seen a life performance by Miss Garland, but I’ve seen her on a video, and Tracie really captured her essence to perfection. I was wondering the whole time if Liza could have done that part? But … no answer came to me.

I was wondering, too, should we expose the worst or “heaviest” part of a famous person’s life? Should we not keep sacred the few icons of great performers from the past and remember them as they were at their best? But then I realized after my show, “Illusions,” where I dared to expose parts of my real life — the ones I never wanted to talk about — that the audience appreciated more what I had to say, and actually wanted to hear more about me and my life.

“End of the Rainbow” was a brilliant performance by Tracie Bennett, and directed by Terry Johnson at the Ahmanson Theatre (March 12-April 21, 2013). And here’s some advice for young singers wanting to impersonate a great singer: Do not imitate their way of singing. Try to understand why they interpreted the song in that way. And then see if there’s something inside you that you can pull out and use to interpret their song with the same feeling.